Removeable medium, formatting device, formatting system, formatting method, and formatting program

Abstract

A removable medium capable of performing formatting conforming to the standard if a host machine does not include a special formatting command is provided. A removable medium has an information storage section 20 having a first storage area for storing first management information and a second storage area for storing second management information; a formatting information storage section 30 for storing formatting information to format the first storage area and the second storage area; a formatting start detection section 11 for detecting update access to update the first management information from an external machine; and a format processing section 12 for performing format processing of storing the formatting information stored in the formatting information storage section 30 in the first storage area and the second storage area as the first management information and the second management information when the update access is detected.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An information storage device, comprising:
 an information storage section; 
 a formatting information section configured to store formatting information of the information storage device; and 
 a controller configured to control read and write access to the information storage section and including:
 a formatting detection section configured to detect an attempt by an external machine to format the information storage section and to determine a file system format of the attempt; and 
 a format processing section configured to:
 determine whether the file system format of the attempt is compatible with the information storage device based on formatting information stored in the formatting information section; and 
 when the file system format of the attempt is not compatible with the information storage device, prohibit the external machine from formatting the information storage section and format the information storage section based on the formatting information stored in the formatting information section. 
 
 
 
     
     
       2. The information storage device as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the format processing section is further configured to allow the external machine to format the information storage section when the file system format of the attempt is compatible with the information storage device. 
     
     
       3. The information storage device as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the format processing section is further configured to, when the file system format of the attempt is not compatible with the information storage device, ignore write accesses and erase accesses from the external machine which are indicative of an attempt to format the removable information storage device. 
     
     
       4. The information storage device as claimed in  claim 3  wherein
 the format processing section is further configured to detect removal and insertion of the information storage device, and when removal and insertion of the information storage device is detected, release ignoring of the write accesses and the erase accesses from the external machine. 
 
     
     
       5. The information storage device as claimed in  claim 1  wherein
 the formatting information section stores formatting information compatible with a File Allocation Table (FAT) file system. 
 
     
     
       6. The information storage device as claimed in  claim 1  wherein
 the information storage section has a specific area configured to store information used to access other areas of the information storage section; and 
 the formatting detection section is configured to detect the attempt to format based on at least one of a write access and an erase access by the external machine to the specific area. 
 
     
     
       7. The information storage device as claimed in  claim 6  wherein
 the specific area stores a master boot record and partition table, a reserved area, and a partition boot sector. 
 
     
     
       8. The information storage device as claimed in  claim 7  wherein
 the specific area is configured to store a volume ID number and a volume label as parts of the master boot record and partition table; and 
 the formatting detection section is configured to treat an access limited to updating at least one of the volume ID number and the master boot record as not being an attempt to format the information storage section. 
 
     
     
       9. The information storage device as claimed in  claim 6  wherein
 the information storage section has an area for storing a file allocation table and a root directory entry, and an area for storing user data. 
 
     
     
       10. The information storage device according to  claim 1  wherein the information storage device is a removable medium. 
     
     
       11. A system comprising:
 an electronic machine; and 
 a removable storage device configured to couple to said electronic machine, the removable storage device including:
 an information storage section; 
 a formatting information section configured to store formatting information of the removable storage device; and 
 a controller configured to control read and write access to the information storage section and having:
 a formatting detection section configured to detect an attempt by the electronic machine to format the information storage section and to determine a file system format of the attempt; and 
 a format processing section configured to:
 determine whether the file system format of the attempt is compatible with the removeable storage device based on formatting information stored in the formatting information section; and 
 when the file system format of the attempt is not compatible with the removeable storage device, prohibit the electronic machine from formatting the information storage section and format the information storage section based on the formatting information stored in the formatting information section. 
 
 
 
 
     
     
       12. A method, comprising:
 controlling formatting of a removeable storage device by,
 detecting an attempt by an external machine to format an information storage section of the removeable storage device; 
 determining file system format information of the attempt; 
 determining whether a file system format of the attempt is compatible with the removeable storage device based on formatting information stored in the removeable storage device and the determined file system format information of the attempt; and 
 when it is determined the file system format of the attempt is not compatible with the removeable storage device,
 prohibiting the external machine from formatting the information storage section of the removeable storage device; and 
 formatting the information storage section according to the formatting information stored in the removeable storage device. 
 
 
 
     
     
       13. A non-transitory computer-readable memory medium whose contents cause an information storage device to perform a method, the method comprising:
 detecting an attempt by an external machine to format an information storage section of the information storage device; 
 determining file system format information of the attempt; 
 determining whether a file system format of the attempt is compatible with the information storage device based on formatting information stored in the information storage device and the determined file system format information of the attempt; and 
 when it is determined the file system format of the attempt is not compatible with the information storage device,
 prohibiting the external machine from formatting the information storage section of the information storage device; and 
 formatting the information storage section according to the formatting information stored in the information storage device.